


Hector's All-Night Paranormal Consultation Service

by Nyssa23



Category: Gil's All Fright Diner - A. Lee Martinez
Genre: Backstory, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Male Friendship, Paranormal, Psychic Abilities, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 10:10:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyssa23/pseuds/Nyssa23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>About Hector, and how he came to be the go-to metaphysical scholar for a werewolf and a vampire at large.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hector's All-Night Paranormal Consultation Service

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fenellaevangela](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenellaevangela/gifts).



> Since Hector's never given a last name in the book, I made him a Latino and based his cultural and family traditions on my own. Thanks for the chance to play in this fun universe! <3

The first time Hector Amezquita saw a ghost, he was four years old. He was sitting on the back porch of his family's home in El Paso, playing quietly with toy cars, when a pale young woman peeked out at him from behind the big mesquite tree in the back yard. Hearing him chatter away to his new friend, Hector's mother Laura leaned out the window to ask him who he was talking to. Seeing no one, she panicked and ran to fetch her husband's mother.

Hector's _abuela_ (grandmother), Amalia, moved slowly and with great dignity to the window. She listened for a few moments, looked out the window, and nodded. "Nothing to worry about, _mija_ (my daughter)," she reassured Hector's mother. "She will not hurt him, and who knows? She may even be able to help him." Amalia, as well as many members of her family, had The Sight--the ability to sense the supernatural. Amalia was delighted with her grandson's newly discovered power and taught Hector all of the traditions that had been passed down to her by her own mother. It was unusual for a son of the family to develop The Sight, so Amalia believed that Hector would grow to be very powerful indeed. 

Hector excelled at school and at his studies of the occult, and his parents did their best to adapt to a son who preferred thick books of spells and consulting with spirits to Friday night football and camping trips. When Hector was old enough, he started helping Amalia in her _botanica_ , a shop that sold herbs and various magical items, and when Amalia died, Hector took over the shop. Satisfied with her life and legacy, Amalia did not return as a ghost, which both saddened and pleased her grandson. Every year thereafter on the Day of the Dead, Hector placed offerings of food and drink for Amalia at a table decorated with marigolds, savoring the chance to visit with her spirit for that one night.

Under Hector's ownership, Amalia's _botanica_ thrived. It might not have had as much of a selection as Crazy Ctharl's, but Hector felt that the personal service and consultations he offered more than offset the occasional need to place an order for an item he didn't stock. In order to sharpen his skills and gain new insights, Hector continued to study the paranormal with local practitioners both dead and alive, as well as via "distance learning" classes from Miskatonic University, for which assignments would appear periodically on his desk and whisk themselves away once completed. It was a good life, and Hector felt fortunate to be surrounded with like-minded friends and clients who enjoyed his esoteric field as much as he did.

But none of that prepared him for the night he looked up from his counter to see a large hairy man looking a bit pale and sweating noticeably. "'Scuse me," he mumbled. "Got a little problem and I heard you were the fella to ask."

Hector looked the guy over and squinted. "Let me guess," he said. "Somebody slipped you a dose of wolfsbane." He grabbed a thick book from the shelf below the counter and thumbed through its well-worn pages.

The big guy looked astonished. "Is that what that was? All I know is, it stings like a son of a bitch, and I got the shits something fierce."

Hector nodded sympathetically as he fished for dusty glass vials on the well-stocked shelves behind him. "All things considered though, you're pretty lucky. A lot of folks don't make it far enough to even consult someone." He looked up from measuring out herbs. "Listen, if you don't mind my asking, how did you hear about this place?"

"Found this in the glove compartment while I was lookin' for the tire gauge." The werewolf fished in the pocket of his faded denim jeans and tossed a well-worn business card onto the counter. The card read, "Hector Amezquita, Metaphysical Scholar. Personal Consultations Available By Appointment," with the address and phone number of the shop in smaller type along the bottom. Hector had printed up a few of them years ago and had then promptly forgotten about them, since he felt that folks who needed him usually found him just fine without his having to advertise.

Hector smiled as he scooped the herbs he'd measured onto a square of waxed paper, which he rolled into a funnel and used to pour the herb mixture into a plastic tube with a snap-on top. "Well, I sure am glad you found us. Never had the chance to treat a werewolf before." Just then, the bell over the door chimed again as a thin, pale man with overalls and combed-over hair walked in. "Hey Duke, what's taking so damn long? This guy gonna fix your shits or what?"

Duke growled, "Cut it the hell out, Earl. This ain't a drive-through. Man's a professional." 

"Duke and Earl?" Hector chuckled. "A werewolf and a vampire. Reckon I've seen just about everything now." Earl blinked, surprised, and shook his head. It figured that a guy running a shop like this would have a pretty good chance of having The Sight. It'd just be good business.

Hector held out the tube to Duke, along with a bottle of water. "Okay, Duke. Take half of this now mixed with water, and the other half tomorrow when you wake up."

"Thanks," Duke said, taking the tube and bottle in one big hand. "What do I owe you?"

"Ten bucks." Hector knew he could have charged much more than that for the remedy, but he had a feeling these guys couldn't afford a whole lot. Duke gratefully handed over a crumpled bill, and Hector was seized by a sudden idea. "Y'all local, or just passing through?" 

"Passing through. Just, you know, driving," Earl, the vampire, said. 

Hector nodded. "Hey, I'm about to close up here. I don't usually do this, but then I don't usually run into a werewolf and a vampire traveling together. If you guys need a place to stay for the night--or the day, rather--you're welcome at my place. I'm just down the block."

Duke and Earl exchanged a glance. "Okay," Duke said. "Just the night though, and then we'll be movin' on. Thanks...Hector."

Hector smiled as he locked up the cabinets and turned off the lights in the shop. "Duke, it'll be my pleasure. And all my friends call me Hec."


End file.
